Roles and Definitions

Pre-Reviewers - Department administrators are responsible for the administration of sponsored projects in their department or have a supervisory or management role in a sponsored project. Pre-Reviewers review effort reports to ensure individuals paid from a sponsored project should have been paid and the percentage is reasonable in relation to the individual's university compensated effort. Pre-Reviewers also process salary and wage adjustments to update an effort report. Pre-review of the effort reports are required to move the effort reports forward in the certification and review process, if required.

Certifiers - Faculty, employee, or student paid from the sponsored project. Certifiers have the access and ability to certify their own effort report. It is recommended individuals certify their own effort report, but it is not required in the effort certification process. Undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students should not be told or required to certify their own effort report at any time.

Alternate Certifiers - Principal Investigators (PI) are assigned as alternate certifiers in order to certify graduate students paid from their sponsored project and certify any effort report associated with their sponsored projects, including any faculty, staff, or undergraduate and graduate students. 

Post-Reviewers - PI's are assigned the role of Post-Reviewers. Post-Reviewers must review any effort report associated with their sponsored project. In the case an individual (Certifier) has not certified an effort report, Principal Investigators must certify the effort report.

Proxy - A Proxy is an individual that has first hand, direct knowledge of work performed for individuals paid from a sponsored project. A PI may assign an individual as a Proxy, but before the Proxy can be assigned, the PI and Proxy must complete and sign an Assignment of Proxy form and submit the request to Effort Certification Administration for review and approval.

Effort Certification Administrators - While effort certification administrators do not have a formally, named role in the effort certification system, general duties include but are not limited to the creation, production, management, oversight, support and traininig services to Pre-Reviewers, Certifiers, and Post-Reviewers, and liaison with other departments to ensure the effort certification system is functioning as intended.